My Pretty Zombie - Swatches & Review

I have been eyeing up My Pretty Zombie on etsy for a while, so when I saw that she was running her annual sale of 33% off I decided it was a good excuse to pick up some samples!

I placed an order for 6 eyeshadow samples and 5 blush samples. This is what came in the mail:

A cute kitty card filled with powdered awesome! There was a bit of leakage from one of the blushes, but meh.. it happens, not enough to bother me :) I ordered 6 shades of eyeshadow and a sample set of 5 blushes (I received 6!).
I have to admit, I worried about what would happen if this got opened by customs lol - little bags of powder labelled with diseases and drug names.. fortunately it didn't get inspected :D

Now... the swatches!!! Unfortunately I don't really think my pics did these shades justice, but hopefully you get an idea of how amazing they are!  Swatched over Pixie Epoxy in natural light and the descriptions are taken from My Pretty Zombie's store.

First up: the eyeshadows:

Gangrenous: "starts as a dark lavender and switches to a glossy green depending on the light and the angle"
This shade went straight into my top 5 eyeshadows - I had decided before I even finished one eye that I needed a full size. The duochrome effect is gorgeous and purple and green is always a winning combo for me.

Anthrax: "Purple to Green with a gold to red shift"

Grr, my picture of this is not great, I couldn't seem to pick up the green - its much more obvious in person, I love it.

Hoof and Mouth: :Blue to purple with a pink and silver shift"
I found the shift in this shade to be less obvious than the one in Anthrax, however its still a gorgeous shade.

Grandma Cleavage: " a cornflower crayon blue with a gold shift...tacky yet fascinating"
Lol.. love the description. I think this shade is really pretty, the gold makes it really unique.

Rabies: "Minty green with a purple shift"

Another one that frustrated me when I tried to capture its complexity! You can't really see the purple shift in my pic, but its there - I promise!! This was my second fave after Gangrenous.

mNg #3: "Bubblegum Pink with a blueish purple shift"

I don't normally gravitate towards pink... but I admit I really like this one. The blue in it makes it wearable for me.

Next, the blushes...

PCP: "peach with gold glitter"
I have to admit, I haven't been brave enough to try this one yet, I really don't know if I could pull off orange blush.... I like the idea of giving it a try though.
THC: "lavender with a sticky green shift"
Again with the purple and green, it goes without saying that I love this one - its my favourite blush of the bunch!

Benzodiazepine: "a red, red, red blush"
Woah... this blush.. its so RED. I am super pale so I'd have to be feeling brave to try it... I wish I could pull it off though!
LSD: "a muted gray plum with a groovy red to gold shift"
Such a unique shade for a blush - looking forward to giving this one a go.
6-Mam: "plum with violet shimmer"
I like this one a lot, definitely won't have trouble using up the sample.

MDMA: "rosy pink with a gold afterglow"
This blush is pretty well known in the indie world, and for good reason - its gorgeous. I nearly ordered the full size of this but it occurred to me that it might be quite similar to Femme Fatale's 'Fire Bloom' blush. Heres the comparison:

Pretty similar right? In my opinion you don't need both. If I had to pick a favourite it woould be MDMA, its slightly more pigmented and has a bit more shimmer - but its really close. 

Overall, definitely a great first experience with My Pretty Zombie. I received my order in about 2 weeks (to NZ) and that was during a sale. I've already placed another order which includes full sizes of Gangrenous, Rabies, Anthrax and THC - the thought of running out of any of them is devastating! :P  Would love some suggestions on which other shades to try. :)

Thanks for reading my post, hope you enjoyed it! xx

Notoriously Morbid - Swatches & Review

I'm really excited about todays blog post because I get to share my review of a relatively new brand - Notoriously Morbid (love the name by the way!). I've heard them mentioned a few times recently in the indie makeup world so I headed to their website to have a look. I was immediately drawn in by the pic above.. ahh I mean it has BATS! Who doesn't like bats? And FANGS - love it! Seriously, its like this brand was made for me! 
Anyway.. then I started looking through the collections and colors - there is a great variety and a lot of the shades looked quite unique. I decided to place an order for a blogger pack which includes one full jar and five baggie samples. The shades are random but I left a note asking if I could have Morgana as my jar since I love purples. This is what I received:

I love it when I get personalised notes like this! This is one of the reasons I buy from small companies, its obvious that time and thought was put into my order.  I even got purple tissue paper <3 The owner of Notoriously Morbid seems like such a lovely person too, I emailed a few times with shipping related questions and got a super polite reply almost immediately.

I didnt just get five samples, but SEVEN! Look at those colors! I was so excited when I saw this - I took one look and ran off to get swatching supplies.

I got my jar of Morgana! And its just as amazing as I had imagined.. *drool*. If you like purple you really need to check this shade out.  Onto the swatches! All are over pixie epoxy and I've used the descriptions from Notoriously Morbids' store because I dont think I could describe them better!

Morgana (Sun)

Morgana (Shade)

Morgana: "A beautiful purple that is very deceiving, it goes on blue with a purple duochrome. It's the perfect blurple!" 
Ahhh.. perfect, even better than I'd hoped for <3 It really is the perfect blurple.

Mystique (Sun)

Mystique (Shade)

Mystique: "A deep lush blue with a gorgeous silver sparkle". This shade is amazing - pretty sure I was drooling while swatching this lol. With all of these shades I found a little goes a very long way - super pigmented. 

Stripper Zombie (Sun)

Stripper Zombie (Shade)

Stripper Zombie: "A sour apple green with a gold duochrome and packed with gold sparkle".
This shade took me by surprise, I didn't expect to love it - but then I swatched it... and it instantly became one of my faves of the bunch. This particular shade of green just looks perfect with the gold, and the duochrome effect is really strong. I can see myself using this a lot, might have to get it in a full size.

Lunatic Shrilling (Sun)

Lunatic Shrilling (Shade)

Lunatic Shrilling: "A dark purple grey with copper sparkles and a copper sheen".
As soon as I saw this I knew I would love it, I really like these sorts of purples, and this shade really came alive in the sun.

Silence (Sun)

Silence (Shade)

Silence: "Silence a very dark grey boarding on black except this bad baby has a crap load of sparkles to lighten your eyes!"
Awesome description lol, and pretty accurate too! This shade is quite unique in my collection, and I'm looking forward to trying it as a liner. 

Poisoned Grapes (Sun)

Poisoned Grapes (Shade)

Poisoned Grapes: - Limited Edition shade "A gorgeous shiny purple verging on metallic".
A nice solid purple! Definitely one to grab before it disappears.

Goodbye Sweetie (Sun)

Goodbye Sweetie (Shade)

Goodbye Sweetie: "A gorgeous semi matte white with a golden hue and silver sparkles".
Ooo I really like this one.. really soft and delicate looking. Another one I can imagine using a lot!

Zinthos (Sun)

Zinthos (Shade)

Zinthos: "A dark grey purple with blue and pink sparkles".
I dont feel like this one photographed quite right - it was a bit more purple in person, although it is very dark.

I am so excited about this brand - the quality, wear time and complexity of the shades is stunning, I highly recommend grabbing some samples and trying them for yourself. 

Notoriously Morbid offer three sizes:
Sample Size (generous -  seems similar to Shiro's samples - approx 1/4 teaspoon in bag) - $1.25
Mini Size (1.5 g in jar - this is comparable to other indie full-sizes) - $2.75
Full Size (Completely packed 5g jar - a LOT of product)- $5.50
International shipping is available.

I'm very impressed with this brand so far and I look forward to trying more from them and possibly posting some looks. I already have the Lady Lovely Locks summer collection of mattes on the way :) 

Find Notoriously Morbid on:
Storenvy
Etsy
Facebook - they run some great sales on Fridays which they announce on their facebook page.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post - hope you enjoyed it! Now I'm off to browse NM's site some more and plan my next order :) xxx

Darling Girl Cosmetics - Swatches (Part 2)

Finally part 2 of my Darling Girl Cosmetics post!  This continues on from Part one which you can find here.  I've tried swatching them a bit more clearly than the last post and all pics are in natural light and over pixie epoxy. One benefit of taking so long to get this up is that I've had a chance to trial the shades and I'm really impressed with them.  I found them really easy to apply and the wear time was also excellent.

Basket Case:

DGC description: 'Bright purple with turquoise shift and gold sparkles'This is the shade I bought a petit of instead of a sample and I'm so glad I did - I'm sure I'll be going back for a full size.  Its the perfect shade of purple and the turquoise shift is really striking. Also I found I only used a tiny bit of this - the pigmentation is fantastic!  I have to confess, I didn't even notice the gold sparkles until I was looking at this pic, but its a beautiful shade anyway.

Ghost Light (spectral shift):

DGC description: a sheer teal with a touch of green iridescence and a golden shift.

Darling Girl's description sums this shade up really well.  Its a gorgeous shade, I love how it appears to glow.

Sultry Siren:

DGC description: a murky aqua base with a pink shift.

Sigh, I'm going to be poor - this is another one I want in full size! :P  I really wish my pics of this one were better, its so much better than it appears here, the shift is much stronger.  This pic does show the base well though, which is really unique and pretty.

Midnight Sea:

DGC description: a rich, matte, royal purple base with turquoise shift.
Wow, I was amazed how similar this was to Basket Case, however I think if I swatched them without the pixie epoxy Midnight Sea would be a much richer purple than Basket Case due to the matte base.  I adore both shades anyway!

Nerpette:

DGC description: deep reddish purple base with strong blue sheen.

Super pigmented shade and a really striking sheen - I really enjoy colors like this.

Hang Loose:

DGC description: Deepish periwinkle blue with pink undertone, gold iridescence and a smattering of color shifting blue iridescence for added depth.

Periwinkle is always a fave of mine, and this one is super sparkly!

Silly Sea Lion:

DGC description: Mid-tone grey base with strong copper sheen and soft silver iridescence.

This is a really interesting color - the combo of greenish grey and the brilliant copper sheen work really well together.

Freedom Rings:

DGC description: Somewhat opaque white with very subtle blue undertone and loaded with color blue and soft red color shifting iridescence.

I love this shade - it looks really ethereal.  Super pretty!

Teenage Dream:

DGC description: Frosty warm pink with silvery undertones and purple sparkles.

I have to confess, I didn't love this one.  Compared to the other shades I received I just didn't think it was very special - I didn't notice any purple sparkles either. It was a GWP and is still pretty, but its just not really one I'll wear.

Overall I'm really impressed with my first order from Darling Girl and I will be making another one soon :)  I noticed a couple of new shades that caught my eye while I was getting descriptions for this post.  I'm looking at you Charmed and Leaping Lizards!  

Thanks for taking the time to read my post - hope you enjoyed it xx

Femme Fatale Cosmetics - Eyeshadow Swatches (New July 2013 Shades)

I was so excited when Femme Fatale released 10 new eyeshadows that I immediately placed an order for the whole lot.  YUP I do have a bit of a problem, but I'm okay with that if it means I get tons of awesome makeup!  Heres what I got:

See I'm not sooo bad - managed to stick to samples for 5 of them and mini jars for the other 5. I received 3 free samples as well! :) Look how pretty they are in their little jars:

I expected my favourite to me Nethermancer without a doubt, but surprisingly its Impsy that I'm obsessed with (and not because Nethermancer isn't pretty too).  I think Impsy is a really unique shade and its SUPER pigmented. Seafire is another favourite, I love that shade of green!

And swatches of the five I received in sample bags:

You can easily see in these pics (particularly with Underlord) where I kind of missed the pixie epoxy, and it shows that you really do benefit from a sticky base with these - the pixie epoxy really brings out the full colour. I liked all of these too - I didn't expect to like Lightwell, its not really a 'me' shade but I dont think I'll have trouble using up the sample baggie, I actually think its really pretty. Deepmoss is another super pigmented shade and its gorgeous.  But my fave of this batch definitely has to be Oplaine Shoal - so delicate!

Femme Fatale cosmetics is closed at the moment but they are reopening on the 9th August with a big two day sale.  I'm really hoping that includes eyeshadows, because I plan to place an order for a full size of Opaline Shoal (as well as some others of course - its a sale... I dont have a choice!).  ALSO *cough* I may have yet another order already on the way *cough cough* so expect to see more Femme Fatale swatches up soon!  Remember if you want to try these shades out for yourself - Femme Fatale offers free shipping on all sample only orders worldwide.

Thanks so much for reading xx